Tennis' Serena Williams: Victim or Rule-Breaker?

So why, then, in this moment, did Ramos decide to invoke an inconsistent rule that is nearly never used, in a major final between Williams - on return from the birth of her daughter and her recovery from serious health issues - and future star in Osaka, which should have been a cause for celebration?

Williams picks up her broken racket.

Racket breaking is nothing new in the sport.

The U.S. team includes Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, Mike Bryan and rookie Frances Tiafoe. He wanted to let Williams know who the boss was and he did it with all of the subtlety of a sledgehammer. But because this was Serena's second code violation, it came with a larger price: one point deducted from the next game.

"After 15 years of false starts, and people in fashion telling me 'no, ' it only only drove me to work harder".

King, however, said Williams was not aware she had been handed a first violation and was surprised to have a point taken from her when she received a second for later smashing her racquet.

"You will never, ever be on a court of mine as long as you live. You owe me an apology", Williams said. "Say it ... Say you're sorry".

Her stance was swiftly backed by the WTA Tour's chief executive Steve Simon and USA great Billie Jean King, both of whom also questioned the initial code violation handed to Williams for on-court coaching.

This resulted in another code violation and her opponent, Naomi Osaka, was awarded a game.

Her opponent, Japanese player and victor of the match, Naomi Osaka, is strangely depicted in Knight's cartoon as blonde, and is seen talking to Ramos who asks: "Can you just let her win?" But I'm going to continue to fight for women and to fight for us to have equal - like Cornet should be able to take off her shirt without getting a fine.

"It's sad for the sport when a player tries to become bigger than the rules". When US sportswriter Julie DiCaro suggested Knight would not depict a male player in the same negative light, Knight responded by tweeting a cartoon he drew of Nick Kyrgios several days earlier.

This handout obtained on September 11, 2018 from the Herald Sun shows a cartoon published on September 10 of US tennis player Serena Williams in the controversial final of the US Open women's singles final.

An Australian cartoonist faced withering criticism on Tuesday for portraying tennis superstar Serena Williams using - what Harry Potter author JK Rowling described as - "racist and sexist tropes". Former tennis star Martina Navratilova wrote an opinion piece for the NY Timessaying two wrongs don't make a right.

While the USTA issued a statement saying that all players could change their shirts at their chair, former ATP VP Richard Ings, who did not name a source, said that umpires had been specifically told before the tournament began that female players could not change attire on the court.